Finality
by crystalballer
Summary: One of the many stories chronicling Booth and Brennan's eventuality, from their first meeting onward. Warning: minor fluffiness.


That stupid, arrogant, cocky, _bastard._

It was bad enough that he'd compromised the integrity of her remains. Now, he was bossing her around like some obnoxious dictator?

_You're the lab rat. I'm the field agent. You see how it all works out here? So why don't you just get workin' on identifying the victim?_

No please. No thank you, no 'can-you-please?', and absolutely no "Thank you for taking your time off from identifying John Doe 129 to help us".

Gritting her teeth, Temperance Brennan tightened her grip on the case file (her fingers leaving marks on it) and marched the way from the elevator to _his_ office, her footsteps heavier and louder than necessary.

***

_Whoosh._

A slide of fingers on smooth plastic.

_Clack._

The hands letting the card drop onto the Formica tabletop.

_Tap._

The nails tapping the card.

_A smile._

She turned away after seeing that smile. Well, at least she wouldn't have to endure any more alarms beeping whenever he jumped onto _her _forensic platform.

_A frown, a furrow of the brow._

Damn, his picture was ugly.

He should've known she would've given the least flattering one there was (to whoever the heck it was who created those cards).

***

"Coffee?"

"Check. Brennan's body-examining kit thing?"

"Check. Okay, then. BONES? WE'VE GOT A CASE!"

"Alright, I'm coming. Thanks for the coffee, Angela."

"Oh, don't thank me. Thank Booth."

***

"I'm sorry. Are you two, you know..."

Simultaneously, they shifted further away from each other and spoke.

"We're just partners."

"No."

Awkward silence ensured.

***

The squints trooped to Booth's SUV, sliding themselves into the backseat.

(Everyone except Hodgins, who made a beeline for the passenger seat)

He was about to slide into it when Angela cleared her throat loudly, catching his attention. Her eyes darted towards Booth's noticeably stony expression at him while she jerked her head from the seat to Brennan, her eyes now fixed on the pavement while her lips transformed into a thin line.

_Oh._

He moved to the backseat sharpish.

***

They lay upon the hill, backs flat against the grass, sides grazing.

_Are you sure?_

She chuckled before replying.

_I've seen Delphinus before. So yeah, I'm sure._

A pause.

_Thanks for coming out here with me, Bones._

She turned to face him, lips curling up into a grin. Eyes tracing the planes of his face, the little bend of his nose, the ears rather small in proportion to his face, the thick eyelashes that softly grazed his face when his eyes were closed.

_No need to thank me, Booth._

She turned back, her eyes fixing on the dark sky. He opened his and angled his face towards her.

_There's no place I'd rather be._

Seeley Booth relaxed, his body sinking even more into the ground beneath him.

***

_Riiing! Riiing! Riiing!_

Brennan opened one eye blearily and stared at the clock. 6.30 A.M.?

Goddamn it. Who the hell was calling at such an ungodly hour?

She picked up the phone.

"Hullo?" she blinked rapidly, trying to wake herself.

"Bones?"

Who else would it be but Booth?

"Booth, why are you calling so early?" she flopped back down onto her bed, closing her eyes.

"You know about the case we had last week, right? We were so busy with the case-"

"Booth, just get to the point."

"I didn't have time to do my laundry."

Aah, so that was why.

She got out of the bed and walked over to her closet, throwing open the door and staring at a particular hanger.

"Seriously, Booth. You have got to stop forgetting your ties at my place. Which one do you need today?"

She paused.

"Yeah, the orange one's with me."

***

"You know, it's not uncommon for a couple to have relationship problems."

"What?"

"Aren't you both...?"

Their faces withdrew from the close proximity they were in before, although their bodies remained in their usual 'across-the-table-confrontation' positions.

"We're just partners."

"No."

Following that, they jumped back into their previous argument with ease.

***

Booth was in the toilet when his phone rang, leaving Brennan to pick it up.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth's phone, Dr. Temperance Brennan speaking. Oh. Um. Hello, Agent Perotta. No, Booth's not available at the moment, how may I help you?"

Booth came back, eyebrows raised questioningly.

At the same time, Brennan's phone began to ring. She pulled it out and tossed it to Booth.

"Dr. Temperance Brennan's phone, Special Agent Seeley Booth speaking. Oh. Hi, Andrew. No, Bones is busy at the moment."

It made a peculiar sight, them listening to their partner's phone. Brennan with his pressed to her right ear, left hand on her hip while Booth with hers pressed to his left ear, right hand on his hip. Mirror images of each other.

"No, I'm sorry. Agent Booth will not be available tonight."

"Bones isn't free tonight."

Ending the calls, they retrieved their own phones and headed for the Founding Fathers.

***

They didn't even notice first time his hand sought hers out. It seemed natural, like this was what they'd been doing their whole lives.

Their fingers laced together, his gaudy red wool glove-clad ones with her sensible black glove-clad ones.

She rolled her eyes. It seems that Booth's taste for loud prints were not limited to socks and ties alone.

***

"Cam, once you're done with the flesh-"

"Bones needs you to clean them off the bones. And immediately after that, could you-"

"Give the skull to Angela for the facial reconstruction? Hodgins, I need you to isolate-"

"Any particulates you find. Bones and I are-"

"Going to question the husband. How long-"

"Will you need?"

The last sentence was spoken in unison, with Booth and Brennan looking up at their gaping co-workers.

Hodgins was the first one to speak.

"Uh... I suppose a few hours?"

Booth nodded, and then the partners left for the Hoover.

Angela was the first to break the silence.

"Is it just me, or were they finishing each other's sentences?"

***

"You two make an adorable couple!"

They caught the other's eye and simultaneously grimaced.

_Not this again._

"You see, we're really not-"

The old lady who complimented them before quickly interrupted Booth.

"Oh, taking things slow, eh? Ah, never mind, never mind..."

They waited until she hobbled out of earshot, and then Brennan lifted her lips to Booth's ear.

"Wasn't that the lady we saw Hank coming out of the bedroom with just now?"

***

12 times today Booth had been confronted with an armada of women armed with spray bottles, urging him to 'try their latest scent! And if you like it, you can buy it for your lovely wife there!' while nodding in Brennan's general direction.

6 times his heart clenched when he told the perky salesladies they weren't together.

3 times he awkwardly told them 'No, thank you'.

2 times he just walked away.

1 time where he was so overwhelmed by the Bones-y scent of the perfume, he bought the bottle on the spot, then thrust it into her palm and walked away abruptly after he'd sent her home.

Damn, he hated it when their cases brought them to malls.

***

4 times this month they'd been mistaken for a couple.

3 times her heart clenched and took a dip when he told the person they weren't dating.

1 time it soared when he thanked the person, then led her away for another round of their relentless debates on pie and vegetarianism at the diner.

She'd come to the point she said 'Screw you' to her views on marriage and love.

But she didn't care. As long as they had this... Thing, it was more than enough.

***

_God, _was she infuriating.

Firstly, she'd insisted on that 3-month long trip to Guatemala. Then, she'd missed her flight back, making them wait 5 _hours _at the damn airport. Did you know what you could do at the airport for 5 hours?

_Nothing._

You couldn't help but love her, though. The way she hugged him after some silly argument about another man hitting on her, how her blue eyes would flash with laughter whenever he cracked a joke about Sweets.

He stood at the arrival gate, trying to get a glimpse of the tall, blue-eyed brunette.

There she was, running towards him while dragging her suitcase.

After a while, she just abandoned it and, with a running leap, threw herself into Booth's arms. After detaching herself, she grabbed the blond boy next to him and gave him a tight squeeze.

Parker grumbled. As much as he loved her, he really, _really _hated public displays of affection.

She then turned to the dark-haired lady next to Booth and giggled, enveloping her in her arms.

Emily Booth hugged her mother tightly, whispering that it was good to be home.

* * *

**damn these stupid midnight plot bunnies. **

**they grab hold of you, then leave you with extremely vague ideas on how to execute them.**

***rubs eyes* I've been sitting in front of the laptop all day, coming up with this.**

**so please, please, please let me get what I want this time. (pardon the lingering effects of my writing playlist)  
**

**Reviews. I meant reviews.**

**As always, a huge thanks to my friend Amanda. I couldn't have done this without your help.  
**


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